Rest Stops & Chains
by Skye10
Summary: This was originally for the "10 Drabbles from 10 Random Songs" Challenge that was up at some of the LJ communities but.....


_This was originally for the "10 Drabbles from 10 Random Songs" Challenge but I got writing Tea and Chess and I doubt I'll get back to this sometime soon. So I decided to post it as the 5-er. Unbetaed_

_Random drabbles created from putting iTunes on Shuffle and writing for the length of the song that came up. Whee._

**1. Rest Stop-Matchbox Twenty**

She was furious.

Hatter could feel it as he glanced over at her as they walked shoulder to shoulder along the ledge of the building. His betrayal, something he was rather used to and considered no big deal, had obviously stung Alice far more than he would have expected.

Should he care? No. What was an Oyster, even a pretty one wearing the stone of Wonderland, to him? Another possiblity to that unattainable goal of being safe. But he was never safe. He was too used to disappointment and had no expections for life beyond his next hour.

Oh, he knew he was attracted to her. Wasn't hard when the only real person you saw in your life was Dormie and Wonderland knew he had no intention of ever fantasizing about THAT road. Hatter tipped his head on the side and watched her purposeful stride, a walk now mixed with her caution around the heights. She obviously believed that her stubborness would save her boyfriend's life

As he watched Alice press nervously against the ledge wall, he wondered what it would be like to have that sort of devotion.

* * *

**2. In Chains- Depeche Mode**

It was strange, to realize how close they had started to become. It really had become more evident as they had walked alongside one another in the wilderness, Alice keeping just behind Hatter's shoulder. She was not one for being protected by any man yet she felt oddly comforted by his presence. Not to mention that mean right hand he could throw. When he stopped to listen to the howling and rumbling of wild beasts around them, she pressed as close as she dared without touching him.

Hatter, feeling her close, was not sure why such a move made him feel more than he should for an Oyster who had effectively destroyed his life.

He had spoke to her of traps yet he was quite certain that he was the one being trapped and he was not sure how.

Alice stopped short when the howling seemed to rumble close to them and grabbed at his sleeve, her fingers brushing his. The foreign contact of his cool skin against her sweated palm made her let him go instantly and look away, not daring to look up at him. She missed the way Hatter glanced down at his arm before staring at her face for longer than he should have. He moved on again, fingers flexing as if to rid him of the contact he could still feel.

The contact seemed to chain her to him though, kept her close as he spoke of monsters in the forests and ancient cheshire cats that had once plagued the royal families. It kept her with him until he had told her to run from the monster charging them. Then, like an elastic, the chain made him turn and run after her when he saw the monster trailing her.

* * *

**3. It Means Nothing- Stereophonics**

"I'm...I'm not sure what this means," Alice declared as she sat across from Hatter at the fireside. Charlie was boasting to himself really about his hunting prowess as he prepared the spit. Hatter sat still as a statue across from her but his head lifted to meet her eyes when she spoke. "Did...did he want me to marry him or did he know he was going to get caught?"

Hatter knew she was asking a purely rheotrical quesiton, not wanting his answer. He wasn't sure he had the right answer and an Oyster like Alice deserved an answer, especially since her life had been turned so thoroughly upside down by one accidental gift-giving, if thats what it were.

Alice looked at him expectantly and Hatter sighed, scratching at the back of his neck.

"I don't quite see how he couldn't want you, Alice," he said and she stared at him oddly. "To marry him. You'd be a catch I presume in the Other World," he said hurriedly.

The rest of the night, between their heated argument and his realization about her over firelight, Hatter dreamt restlessly of a lost girl who went to another man for help while turning her back on him.

* * *

**4. Nelly Furtado- All Good Things**

Staring at Jack Heart, Prince of Wonderland, Hatter suddenly realised the futility of it. How could he fight against such a man? Oh, he knew he could throw a decent scrap and likely permanently damage that pretty face. But Jack Heart used words differently than Hatter did. He used them like his mother, to cut and destroy. Hatter used his words to confuse and rankle, but never to cut too deep.

Feeling Alice's confusion at his side, Hatter let the stick drop and stepped away, mentally and physically. He couldn't bring himself to hurt Jack in front of her, could not stand the idea of having her cry and rage at him for a fight like this. She deserved the chance to save her father and if she believed that her father was alive, he would not stand against her.

He would have stood against Jack if only he had not seen the utter hope in Alice's eyes at the mention of it. He couldn't destroy that hope in her. Not now, not after everything. He had nearly had her trust, nearly had that sense that she believed in him but her distrust and indecisiveness burned bright and glaring.

Hatter knew that it was time to go back to being what he was. The con-man able to slip into the cracks. Maybe this time he could lose himself there and not get distracted by an Oyster who wore her heart on her sleeve.

* * *

**5. Perfect Strangers- INXS**

Not for the first time, they both wondered if it would have been easier if they never introduced themselves as who they were.

If Hatter had used another name, Alice may not have remembered the old tale of the Mad Hatter and his affinity for tea, ravens and the murdering of Time.

If Alice had used another name, Hatter might not have remembered the stories of a curious spoiled young girl who had outwitted the Red Queen and brought down the house of Cards.

As it were, they were just Hatter and Alice. Just Alice and her Harbringer to Charlie. Alice and the Con Man to a jealous Jack. Hatter and the Oyster to the Resistance.

Names were almost unimportant when running from death, Alice learned. What he called her didn't matter when he stared across a flickering fire to see a tired lonely young woman, Hatter decided.

When he had watched her go, Hatter didn't know if his name would sound right. They had been Hatter and Alice for a short period of time and yet he found he enjoyed the flavour it caused in his mouth to say it. Delighted in the reaction of Jack Heart to her coolness and was amused to see Charlie's bemused confusion.

So when he had gone to her, it was to be Hatter and Alice once more. As it should be.


End file.
